Just Enough Ruffles

January is progressing nicely. I finished the Just Enough Ruffles scarf.

It turned out great. Luckily I finished it while it was still cold so I wore it to work. Lots of people complimented me on it. They liked the ruffle. I didn't realize that would be so popular. Of course, the hot pink color is also a winner.

I finished the scarf pretty quickly, but not without a cost. MOM's Orchid Emperor is no where near finished and the gifting time passed. Now I'm shooting for her birthday in March or worst case Mother's Day in May.

I'm most of the way through the 3rd of 10 repeats for the ends. Then I'll fill in the middle. So far to go. I'm tempted to only do 3 repeats of the end pattern then fill in the middle. There are a number of reasons for that.

1. I'm not enjoying the first pattern all that much. I'm hoping the second will be better.
   
2. I want one pattern take up a majority of the piece and the other to be the border. Right now it feels like the two patterns are half and half. Although pattern 1 is split so that it's on each end, I just feel like it might take up too much of the piece.

I guess I'll check out Ravelry and see what others have done.

Vacation Winding Down

My vacation is winding down. I dropped Justyne with her mom in OKC yesterday. Man it was a long day. Seemed like the trip up there took twice as long as the trip back. Wonder why that is?

I'm back to having majority control of the computer. That could be good or bad. I got lots more knitting done when I couldn't play on the computer. I started the Just Enough Ruffles scarf last night. Cast on the 200 stitches while I talked to MOM. Even in garter its a long way across 200 stitches, but I can't wait to see how the scarf comes out. In reality the whole scarf is less then 50 rows so if I apply myself, I should be able to wear it this winter and maybe even this month.

At the same time, I still need to finish my MOM's Christmas present. We'll do my family Christmas in late January, but I just don't think it's enough time. I may need to start thinking of something else and plan this as a birthday gift for her. That gives me until March.

2009 was the "Year of Gifted Knitting" and I did enjoy for knitting others, I've decided the thing I don't like about gift knitting is the deadline. I'm totally over deadline knitting. I want to knit on what I want to knit on and set it aside if I get tired of knitting on it. If I want to cast on a new project, I want to be able to do it without guilt. The only reason I started the Just Enough Ruffles scarf is because I finished my DS mitts.These "Stulpen Wine" mitts are a frankenstein of two free patterns - Stulpen and Canadian Livings Mulled Wine mitts. I've knit the Stulpens a number of times. It's a great pattern and it works. I was concerned about the fit of the Mulled Wine mitts. The stitch is pretty but it doesn't expand and contract. So I worked it into the Stulpen pattern. I'm pleased with how the mitts worked out. I hope they fit my DS and I hope she likes them.